A Cough Syrup-Fueled Rant

DISCLAIMER: I have the Black Death, and have just downed a flagon of NyQuil. Wrapped up in a blanket, donning my amazingly hideous warm track pants and alliance hoodie – I WRITE!!!

Here on AltDev, a number of scholarly topics are covered. From RayTracing, to greater diversity in the industry, a lot of professional level thoughts are broached.

This is my fourth post, and although a few have been from a Student perspective, I’d like to go there one more time – because there’s something I’m just itching to talk about. This isn’t directed at anyone in the industry, but to those hoping to join the ranks. This is a post that I hope, for years to come, will be passed on to every aspiring Game Designer. This is where I try for once and all to answer one burning question with an extremely blunt and long winded answer.

Here we go.

Future Designer: Will I have to learn how to program?

Me: OMG YES!!!!!111!!!!!1999911111

Future Designer: But I’m not good at –

Me: NOU!!!!

Future Designer: But what if I just –

Me: YOU WILL SIT DOWN AND L2 CODE SOME OF THE THINGS AND YOU WILL LIKE IT!

Ok seriously, maybe that’s a bit jarring, so let’s break it down a bit. As designers, we have to wear many hats – and to be perfectly honest, high level programmer probably isn’t going to be one of them unless that’s the background we come from. But let’s face it….games are built on code. Code is the magical thing that makes your totally awesome flying squirrel mechanic work. Code is the thing that pushes the boundaries of how many flying squirrels we can render in an update. Code is the thing that tells the AI of said flying squirrels to path correctly.

Long story short – No code, no flying squirrels…wait, where was I?

Programming! Here’s the thing, chaps. You gotta know how your games are built – even if it’s a meager, remedial, embarrassing, pitiful bit of knowledge. When you go to the